List of Tesla Autopilot crashes

The model S after it was recovered from the crash scene in Williston, Florida

Tesla Autopilot, a Level 2 advanced driver assistance system (ADAS), was released in October 2015 and the first fatal crashes involving the occurred less than one year later. The fatal crashes attracted attention from news publications and United States government agencies, including the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which has argued the Tesla Autopilot death rate is higher than the reported estimates.[1] In addition to fatal crashes, there have been many nonfatal ones. Causes behind the incidents include the ADAS failing to recognize other vehicles, insufficient Autopilot driver engagement, and violating the operational design domain.

As of October 2024, there have been hundreds of nonfatal incidents involving Autopilot[2] and fifty-one reported fatalities, forty-four of which NHTSA investigations or expert testimony later verified and two that NHTSA's Office of Defect Investigations verified as happening during the engagement of Full Self-Driving (FSD).[3] Collectively, these cases culminated in a general recall in December 2023 of all vehicles equipped with Autopilot, which Tesla claims it resolved by an over-the-air software update. Immediately after closing its investigation in April 2024, NHTSA opened a recall query to determine the effectiveness of the recall.[4]

  1. ^ "Additional Information Regarding EA22002" (PDF). NHTSA. April 25, 2024.
  2. ^ Hawkins, Andrew J. (2024-04-26). "Tesla's Autopilot and Full Self-Driving linked to hundreds of crashes, dozens of deaths". The Verge. Retrieved 2024-06-14.
  3. ^ "Tesla Deaths Dataset". tesladeaths.com. Retrieved July 22, 2023.
  4. ^ "NHTSA Opens Recall Query Into Tesla Autopilot Safety Concerns Followi…". archive.ph. 2024-10-26. Archived from the original on 2024-10-26. Retrieved 2024-10-26.